No - it is an ancient method of communication telling a story pictorially!

Ancient Egyptian writing uses more than 2,000 hieroglyphic characters. Each hieroglyph represents a common object in ancient Egypt. Hieroglyphs could represent the sound of the object or they could represent an idea associated with the object. 

 Sounds much like the Artists Code! :) 

Symbols were also used as secret communication dating back to the day's of the Bible!
The Christian fish was developed  by, ancient Christians, during their persecution by the Roman Empire in the first few centuries after Christ. They used the fish symbol to mark meeting places and tombs, or to distinguish friends from foes:

…when a Christian met a stranger in the road, the Christian sometimes drew one arc of the simple fish outline in the dirt. If the stranger drew the other arc, both believers knew they were in good company. Much like a secret handshake!

 

 

Both methods above are used in The Artists Code.

 Learning the code is SMART - your newspaper will never read  the same again.  Articles you never knew existed will appear throughout the newspaper speaking through photojournalism and artwork!!

Symbology and The Artists Code